Thursday, June 26, 2008

Here are my wonderful organinc walnuts that I buy in big 3 kg bags from a farm. They are wonderful and I don't even use them so much in baking or cooking because I tend to eat them on their own. I love the sound of them cracking, so usually I just shell them one by one and pop them in my mouth!
Another thing I love to do with my walnuts is toast them in the oven with the shells on. I've learned this when I lived for a while in Italy, my roommate's mom would send her bags of this toasted walnuts, that we would eat with cheese and bread as night snacks. Those were the days!...
So next time you're using your oven just put a tray with some whole walnuts and toast for a while. Temperature and time is really relative, but as a guidance you can do it for about 15 minuts at 180ºC (350ºF). After cooling they'll open really easily, you can do it just by pressing them with your hands. They'll be crunchy and they're great with cheeses and fruits. It's a good thing to serve as an appetizer at parties as well.

So now that I gave you some nut tips I'll give you some cheap tips, that in my case are a bit related with my nuts. See the nice plate where I keep them? Well that's actually a turnable plate that also dobles as a cake decorating device...

I live in a place where finding cake decorating ustensils is very difficult or very expensive, so I usually prefer to use imagination rather than money. Imagination is much cheaper I tell you! So for a "Wilton style" cake decorating turntable, I use a regular cake stand on top of my walnut plate. Cool, hein?

What about these wooden sticks? Have you ever checked the prices of big no-handles rolling pins? Well I have and was not impressed! So on a recent trip to the DYI store I got a huge wood stick that was originally sold to use on some gardening thingy. I got it cut right there in the store and got two amazing rolling pins with different sizes for less than 3€!

Before using I sanded them a bit and they were good to go. I think Alton Brownwould be so proud of me!

I came by your site just 10 minutes too late! I have been using odd objects around the house as rolling pins and figured it was time to spring for one. I just came back from the store & had no clue they were so expensive! Your idea is much more economical. Too bad I threw away my receipt.

I love your money saving tips! Also, that was a great idea about toasting the nuts in the shell. Our neighbor's tree drops pecans in my yard and I get tired of cracking the nuts in the door. I'm going to gather up a bunch and give it a go!

I usually drive my husband nuts because I love to spend time in hardware stores much more than he does. There are so many great things to find there. I bought a chocolate spray gun from a professional pastry supply company years ago just to find one for a quarter of the price in a hardware store later. - Lesson learned. Save money in hardware stores - I think this post is a great intro to saving money this way!Thanks for sharing,Alexandra

Thanks for the nuts tip. I'm definitely nuts after nuts ;) and just like you I'd rather eat them as is.As for the money saving tips, I used to have a wine bottle for a rolling pin, and glasses for cookie cutters :D